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Mechanical Cotton With prospects of large cot ton acreages, a possible short age of labor, and high cotton prices in 1951, farmers in Central Texas are becoming increasing ly interested in the possiblities of using mechanical harvesters next year. “I have received inquiries from farmers in this area the past few weeks about mechanical har- Johnston, superintendent at “I have received from farm ers in this area the past few weeks about mechanical har vesting of cotton,” Dr. J. R. Johnson, superintendent at lackland experiment station, said recently. He said that farmers who are contemplating using a mechani cal harvester next year should start making their plans now. One of the first considera tions is the machine that will do the harvesting. Will it be a spindle type picker or a strip per? The pickers run around $8,900 in cost, while the strip pers cost half that amount and many even less. Most farmers of this area will probably be interested in the stripper, since the spindle type picker and its high cost are more suited to very large farms. In considering the strippers, the farmers will want to have the type stripper he intends to buy or use to harvest his cotton well in mind before he plants the cotton. Because some strip pers will work only on cotton with rows at a definite width. Others will work on rows of al most any width. The farmer who plans to use mechanical harvesters will also have to consider the variety of cotton he is going to plant. With 4 a seed shortage expected around planting time, he would do well to start arranging for his seed now. Some varieties of cotton are net adapted to mechanical har vest. While others work very well with the strippers or pickers, Dr. Johnston said variety which worked best in the me chanical harvesting experiments at Blackland, in the order of preference, are Lockett 140, Empire, and Macha. The cotton should be planted much thicker, too, for mechani cal harvesting, Dr. Johnston said. It would be planted as early as practicable. The said farmers should also arrange now for insect sprays to use in early season control on the cotton. Defoliation is another require ment to successful mechanical harvesting of cotton. Dr. Johns ton said any good spray type defoliant may be used. “We can’t depend on the dust defoliants here, since we don’t usually heave enough dew in Au gust, the defoliation month, to make it effective,” he explained. He said the defoliant is appli ed to the cotton about 30 to 35 days after it has stopped setting fruit. This saze can usually be determined by watching to see when the cotton seems to reach
Newspaper Details
Taylor Daily Press
Taylor, Texas, US
Sun, Dec 24, 1950
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Patrick J.
USA 11 Sep 2026
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